I’m back in Auckland now enjoying the start of springtime. I don’t have time to talk about the wonders of my time in Europe at the moment – but I promise that I will dedicate enough time to spell out the delightful journey I went on over the past months!

Tonight, I’m zooming down to Te Awamutu to hear the 3rd of 16 Chamber Music New Zealand concerts by John Chen and Julia McCarthy. They premiered my commission, Tutukaka, on Wednesday night in Gore.
The work was inspired by childhood memories of summer holidays spent in Northland, New Zealand.

This is the main composition that I worked on with my tutors in Europe and I think I learnt a lot from them. It will be very interesting to listen to as you will (hopefully!) be able to hear the influences of my overseas training.

Just letting you know – I’m still alive!

I had a very enjoyable time in the city of Freiburg. The university was really nice and had great facilities. It was also in a fantastic location, just minutes on foot from the centre of town. It had a very international feel being so close to France and Switzerland. I can see why so many New Zealanders’ gravitate there. It’s a really lovely place.

Back at the old piano again – I’m steadily working my way through another composition, this time for orchestra. I have so many ideas that I have to keep telling myself to save them up for the next one… or ten compositions!